Is it Shanghai surprise as David Beckham quits LA Galaxy?

David Beckham’s decision to quit Los Angeles Galaxy has triggered a global scramble to secure the services of the world’s most famous football player.

But those close to the former England captain say the destination for his last lucrative hurrah is more likely to be determined by his wife’s increasingly successful fashion career than any remaining footballing ambitions.

Clubs in Australia, China, France, South Korea and even England are all said to be desperate to sign “Brand Beckham” for what he described as “one last challenge”.

Beckham, 37, said he will bring the curtain down on his six years in California in the final of the Major League Soccer Cup against Houston Dynamo on December 1.

In a statement he said: “I’ve had an incredibly special time playing for LA Galaxy. However, I wanted to experience one last challenge before the end of my playing career. I don’t see this as the end of my relationship with the league, as my ambition is to be part of the ownership structure in the future.”

His next club will be the sixth and last for the boy from Leytonstone who has done more than any other player to popularise “soccer” in America.

But while he has been growing the profile of the sport, his former Spice Girl wife Victoria has reinvented herself as an acclaimed fashion designer — with followers including Sex and the City’s Sarah Jessica Parker and Cameron Diaz.

She is said to be keen on staying in America and wants to open her first store in New York, raising the possibility that David may stay in the MLS with the New York Red Bulls.

Another option is that Beckham could join Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba at big-spending Shanghai Shenhua in China but his spokesman this week poured cold water on a move to Australia.

Paris Saint-Germain, which was recently bought by the Qatar government, could offer him the European competition he craves.

In the past, he has insisted he wouldn’t want to play for any other Premiership league team other than his former club —Manchester United — although the possibility of a cameo “farewell” stint at a lesser English club has not been completely ruled out.

“Seldom does an athlete redefine a sport,” said Tim Leiweke, president of Galaxy owner AEG.

Mr Leiweke added: “David not only took our franchise to another level but he took our sport to another level.

“It has been an honour and privilege to be a part of his world, and more importantly, to have him be a part of ours.”